Nice work. Do the babies eventually grow into the huge version? And if they do, how do the communities that raised them deal with the full grown monstrosity? Do they kill it off before it grows too powerful? All in all, pretty good. Go to Comment

Took a few days to come back to this, 'cause you gave me a lot to think about Mystic. Right now, I must confess that I've never taken a writing class and so Aristotle's Incline was news to me. But while the Incline introduces the three act structure and the order of events, the Hollywood Formula differs in that it focuses on the required characters and their interactions throughout the storyline.

Now, looking to serialized television to show us how to treat a group of protagonists is really sound advice. That article you linked was great, and I would definitely recommend that others go check it out. I suppose that you could adopt that stance towards your party, while keeping the overall campaign focussed around the 3 Act/3 character structure. Each gaming session would then feel like a TV episode, but the campaign as a whole would feel like an epic movie. At least, that's what I got out of it. Thanks for the thought-provoking comment! Go to Comment

This is a pretty good breakdown of what I was first introduced to as Aristotle's Incline with a good adaptation to gaming in particular. If I recall correctly, Aristotle came up with the basic 3 Act plot structure by analyzing the plays of the time.

A splendid goddess of sadistic whimsey, I like her. I also like that her nature was intended to be temporary while the God of the Dead has gone to the cosmic version of the Endless Celebrity Court Case. I understand that there have been all sorts of delays in Mathom's case and that after these centuries they havent reached the opening arguments yet Go to Comment

I agree -- as I was writing this piece, the proxy gods became a much bigger focus for me and I would love to see it developed a little more. It'd be pretty cool to see other people's take on a substitute deity, with their own personalities and motivations.

Slys started off as a simple image in my head that just wouldn't go away: a monstrous die composed of human faces sewn together at the edges. I'm just glad I finally found time to write it down so that I could focus on something else. Thanks for the feedback! Go to Comment

I think that depends entirely on how sadistic you want to be as a GM. You can try to use the character's religion as guidance -- add a face for every time he commits a "sin" or otherwise violates the doctrine. Or if your system has morality/reputation points, you can add a face every time a player edges down on the scale. Conceivably, a face could be added for every person a character lies to. Or you could just save the faces for the more serious crimes (murder, theft, assault, betrayal, etc).

No easy answers, I know. If I were going to use this in-game, I'd probably grab three standard die (a d12, d20 and d100 for example) and use one for the "good" group, one for the "neutral" group and one for the "evil" group. Adjust upwards or downwards as you see fit, and allow for exceptions (a true saint might only need to flip a coin). Go to Comment

Sessiliths

Sessiliths (name based on the word sessile) are gargoyle-type creatures which are stationary, attached to the stone of whichever foundation they are bound to. Though they can move their extremities and limbs they are unable to move away from their particular perch. In lieu of swooping down and attacking like their mobile cousins the gargoyles proper, sessiliths are equipped with their own brand of mischief. The creatures are all able to verbalize and thus usually hurl vile insults and curses upon passersby. The cumulative effects of dozens of sessiliths cursing, screaming, and speaking in tongues, can have an effect of temporary confusion (or even discord) in those forced to listen to the shrieking stone gremlins.

Additionally, most possess the ability to "spout" or spit forth various undesirable projections, such as tar, boiling water, or even acid. While they can usually be avoided easily enough or even destroyed (their "bodies" feature the same defenses as gargoyles), sessiliths are usually placed in such a way as to hinder all trespassers and interlopers, narrow corridors, claustrophobic tunnels and other related "gauntlets", where they cannot be easily avoided. Like gargoyles, sessiliths come in all sorts of grotesque shapes and sizes, though they tend to resemble tiny horned devils, demonic amphibians, or simply distorted faces and heads, more often than not.